Spotlight on Solis Marine’s Naval Architect Expert Witness Services

With a combined 150 years of experience in the marine industry, Solis Marine’s naval architects have the experience to assist clients in solving their problems.

With a combined 150 years of experience in the marine industry, Solis Marine’s naval architects have the experience to assist clients in solving their problems.

Our naval architects come from a diverse range of backgrounds in the marine industry, with experience including:

  • Salvage and wreck removal
  • Ship management
  • Classification societies
  • Project cargo
  • Offshore
  • Renewables

This means that, along with sound theoretical knowledge, we can provide clients with industry specific experience; providing a deeper understanding of the issues and being able to give opinions based on the practical as well as the theoretical.

Our Naval Architecture Services: In the heat of the moment or the cold light of day

Solis Marine has extensive experience in the modelling of vessels for strength and stability calculations.

This can be provided rapidly during the early stages of a casualty, where various assumptions about the vessel have to be made. We can also provide this service at a later stage of a dispute, where more information is available and fewer assumptions have to be made.

From these models, various calculations can be carried out to provide an understanding of the condition of a vessel during an incident, and in the case of salvage, to review what steps need to be made to stabilise that condition.

GHS Example

Generally, Solis Marine follows a ‘first principles’ or ‘rules-based’ approach when it comes to the analysis of an issue. However, this is not always possible; as such, we can draw on our experience in using sophisticated software tools for a more in-depth analysis.

This can include FEA (finite element analysis) for structural issues, hydrodynamic analysis for the analysis of dynamic operations, and CFD (computational fluid dynamics) for the analysis of complex fluid flows. Where appropriate, we can also combine these methods, providing a holistic analysis of an issue.

CFD Example

FEA Example

Providing Expert Opinion

Solis Marine has been involved in a broad range of cases where expert naval architecture opinion has been required, examples include:

  • Container loss
  • Stability analysis
  • Longitudinal strength analysis
  • Flooding analysis
  • Determination of risk to the vessel during salvage for salvage arbitration
  • Shipbuilding defects
  • Manoeuvring scenarios
  • Cost of vessel repair
  • Mooring analysis
  • Liquefaction of cargo
  • Shifting of cargo
  • Non-destructive testing (NDT) issues

Written and oral evidence has been provided in court and arbitration in various jurisdictions, including London and Singapore. Publicly available judgments, where you can read about our naval architects' involvement, are listed below:

  • TERAS LYZA - Written and oral evidence provided for the Supreme Court of Singapore.
  • FLOATEL ENDURANCE - Written and oral evidence provided for the England and Wales High Court.
  • MAERSK HONAM - Written and oral evidence for Lloyd’s Salvage Arbitration provided. The published award can be accessed via the Lloyd’s Salvage Arbitration branch website.
  • YANTIAN EXPRESS - Written evidence for Lloyd’s Salvage Arbitration provided. The published award can be accessed via the Lloyd’s Salvage Arbitration branch website.
  • FMG SYDNEY c/w MSC APOLLO - Written evidence provided for the England and Wales High Court.

Find out more

If you have any questions or want to know more about Solis Marine’s naval architecture services and how we can assist, don't hesitate to contact Duncan Campbell in London or Rosalind Blazejczyk in Singapore.

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